Canon Australia’s “Canon Collective” shuts down due to COVID-19 after almost a decade

Canon Australia’s Canon Collective events have been a great opportunity for Canon shooters in Australia to find out more about new Canon gear and to learn and improve their photography technique for almost a decade. Now the Canon Collective is winding down due to COVID-19. All events have either been cancelled or will end by 31st October 2020.

A statement was posted to the Canon Collective website citing the reasons and exactly when the events will shut down in each Australian region as well as their international events. They say that ticketholders for affected events will be contacted and refunded.

It’s with great regret that we announce that the Canon Collective program will discontinue in its current format.

As you can appreciate, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has made running our Canon Collective events incredibly difficult. This has in turn affected the long-term viability and sustainability of the events program. As a result, Canon will discontinue Collective events, with key dates for each state below:

 • Victoria: All activities have ceased in adherence with current Victorian restrictions
 • Western Australia: All activities have ceased due to current State border closures
 • ACT, Tasmania, Northern Territory: All activities will cease immediately
 • South Australia: All activities will cease by 30 August 2020
 • New South Wales: All activities will cease by 31 October 2020
 • Queensland: All activities will cease by 31 October 2020
 • International: All activities will cease immediately

We’ll be contacting ticketholders to arrange refunds for affected events. Those with tickets for our partner tours and events will be contacted directly via the tour operator, who will advise of the options available.

Canon Australia will keep the Canon Collective Facebook Group open and we encourage you to use this space to continue collaborating and to take your photography to the next level. We’ll be phasing out the @canoncollectiveofficial Instagram channel by 31 October 2020.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send us an email at collective@canon.com.au

For further information, Canon Collective has a FAQs page, which should help to answer any questions you may have. But, essentially, as of the 31st October 2020, the Canon Collective will no longer exist.

If you were hoping to try out new Canon gear at the Canon Collective events, that will no longer be possible, although Canon Australia says that they work with a number of retailers around the country to bring hands-on experiences to customers in-store and will keep the community informed of such events through channels like their Facebook page.

Whether or not it might come back after the pandemic and associated lockdowns and restrictions have ended is unclear, but it sounds like you shouldn’t get your hopes up.